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Dante

Jamshyd

Jamshyd

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I was made aware of the fact that I had, in my previous attempt at study in a university, ignored the fact that Dante Alighieri was practically thrown at me left and right by professors I admired whose subjects nevetheless didn't have much to do with Dante's works. They just loved the guy, and somehow I found myself in all of their classes. This means I learnt a good deal about the structure of his works, his influences, and who he influenced, yet the only work written by him that I had read back then - and only half-mindedly at the time - was some excerpt from
Di vulgari eloquentia. Hardly representative. That said, I had known of the structure of his comedia, the basic premise, and its mechanics.

Then I forgot all about him.

Yet recent events have rekindled that interest, or one can say: ever since I felt the direction of gravity shift in my life; here I am again reading about Dante once more, rather than his works themselves! As I await to obtain the appropriate translations as per several recommendations, I find myself in posession of his Vita Nuova. I decided to read it as a primer and I am so happy at this decision: it turns out The Poet and I have more in common than I thought: not in talent - not by far! ...but rather in the way we see life. I'd wager it is the fact that I have made allegory a way of life many years ago, and allegoresis was the norm in medieval spirituality as a method of reconciling Classical myth with Christian theology.

My questions to you, wiser souls who have any familairity with the Comedia:

1. What order would you recommend the books are read at? One girl who is in love with it says that one starts with the purgatorio, read the other two at any order, then go back to purgatorio. Another person I know recommended that I read them in the original order. My intuition tells me neither...

2. How do you feel this work has affected you personally, particularly in spiritual/philosophical life?

3. Any random advice, recommended side books (I am currently reading St. Bonaventure, to be followed by Augustine and Boethius, to be followed by others)?

4. Anything else that you might feel like saying :).
 
I have the Ciardi translation of the Divine Comedy; I've read the Inferno, and absolutely loved it (well, as much as you can like a book about Hell). Purgatorio fell flat for me early on, though, and awaits another try; for the record, I've often seen people recommend reading Inferno for sure, and read the others more to to complete the set.

In any event, best of luck to you; besides the rest of the Comedy, I plan to tackle Milton's Paradise Lost, sooner rather than later.
 
I read Inferno maybe ten years ago, I recall it was during "In-School-Suspension."

Never quite understood that punishment. We're going to keep you in a room all day and let you read whatever strikes your fancy, and no one can talk to interrupt your read, ha.

Even at that young age the prose was inspiring and rather entertaining. I've been meaning to reread for some time, but never shared much of an interest in either Purgatorio or Paradiso.

Paradise Lost was intriguing to me because of it's focus on Satan as a the protagonist, or seemingly so at least.

I never pursued further reading for reasons I haven't really explored, but upon a brief search online and on your word I must say I am now captivated. Let us know your recommendations, Jam.

As for the order, I don't think it should make a difference either way. The ones worthy of a repeat read are going to be read again so the order hardly seems to matter. I'd go in the chronological order, personally. Just as one would as if alive in the time of their conception/birth.
 
While the vision of Hell, the Inferno, is vivid for modern readers, the theological niceties presented in the other books require a certain amount of patience and knowledge to appreciate. Purgatorio, the most lyrical and human of the three, also has the most poets in it; Paradiso, the most heavily theological, has the most beautiful and ecstatic mystic passages in which Dante tries to describe what he confesses he is unable to convey (e.g., when Dante looks into the face of God: "all'alta fantasia qui mancò possa"—"at this high moment, ability failed my capacity to describe," Paradiso, XXXIII, 142).
Click to expand...

Ah, maybe that's why I never delved deeper into the rest of it.
 
Chronological order is probably best, since that will also allow you to study the evolution in his style and themes over the time the 13 years the work was written.
 
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